Metal Rose
by AFatFlyingWhale
Summary: Novice mech pilot Ruby Rose is joined by her sister, a heiress and an ex-terrorist in a fight bigger than any of the four girls could imagine. Follow their story as they, along with other novice mech pilots, study at Beacon Academy, fight criminals, and uncover a plot deeper than thought possible.
1. I: The Beginning

"Ruby! Stop tinkering, and get in here! It's time for dinner!"

Ruby perked her head up, wiping grease of her forehead, only serving to wipe the black marks across the top of her head further along.

"Coming Dad!" Ruby called back, placing her torque wrench on the tool rack on the wall of the workshop.

Ruby ran out of the workshop and towards the main house, the evening sun streaming down between the leaves of the bright green trees of the island of Patch.

She opened the door and quickly took off her boots, leaving them just in front of the door frame, before she stepped inside, her bare feet padding softly against the carpet.

Dinner smelt delicious, and Ruby wandered into the kitchen, bumping past her father to help carry the food out to the dining table.

"Ah ah ah! Rinse off first, don't want your grease in my butter chicken!" Taiyang ordered, slapping Ruby's hands away from the food.

Ruby laughed, turning the tap on the sink and pumping soap onto her hands.

"C'mon, Yang! Get down here!" Taiyang called up the stairs, and Ruby heard her older sister walk down, her mass of blonde hair wrapped up in a ponytail.

"Hey Dad, Ruby. How's the tinkering on Crescent Rose going?" Yang asked, pulling a chair out from the table and sitting down.

Ruby finished washing her hands, drying them with a towel hanging on the oven handle. "Not bad. She needs a few things tuned up, but she'll be in perfect condition for the next year of Signal. I've just gotta go into Vale, pick up some parts I can't get in Patch."

"Well, either Yang or I can give you a lift, or you could take Crescent," Taiyang said, as he served up three plates of butter chicken.

"I'll be taking Ember Celica, so take your pick Rubes," Yang said, before digging in.

"I'll take Crescent, I've got to get some ammo anyways, might as well save myself the effort of having it delivered," Ruby answered, taking a forkful of chicken from her plate.

"Well, be safe. I know you can handle yourselves, but I still worry," Taiyang said, his daughters doing their best to affirm his knowledge that they could, in fact, take care of themselves without hassle.

Dinner was finished quickly, and the members of the Xiao Long household went to sleep, content stomachs and content minds.

* * *

Morning was bright, as it usually was on Patch, and Ruby had been up since the early morning, in the workshop.

Tinkering.

She had spent a long time tinkering on Crescent Rose, and it was finally time for her to take her out for a test drive.

The mech stood tall and thin, covered in light armor panels coloured red, black and silver, glistening in the early morning sunlight.

Ruby placed her screwdriver to the side, and stood up, wiping sweat from her forehead.

"You reckon she's ready to run?" Yang asked, poking her head in the workshop, startling Ruby.

"Jeez, Yang! Don't scare me like that," Ruby cried out, jumping up.

Yang laughed, grabbing a set of keys off of a rack on the wall. "So?"

"Yeah, she's ready," Ruby replied, grabbing her own set of keys off the rack.

"Then let's go to Vale!"

Ruby nodded, grabbing her scroll from the workshop table and hitting a button, the rear part of the torso of Crescent Rose sliding open, a thin metal rod with two footholds sliding down with a hiss.

Ruby placed her booted feet on the footholds and wrapped an arm around the pole, before it rose, the metal plating retracted to cover the hole that Ruby neatly slipped through.

"Systems check," Ruby murmured under her breath, as she adjusted herself in her cockpit.

Ruby looked about the various switches and buttons, before attaching her scroll into a socket on the arm of her chair.

The entire cockpit lit up as the interior plating lit up, revealing the exterior of Crescent Rose.

With a few quick presses on her scroll, a small screen flickered to life in the top left of her peripherals.

"You ready to go, Ruby?" Yang asked, sitting comfortably in Ember Celica, having accepted the communication from Ruby.

"Whenever you are, Yang!" Ruby replied happily, her hands on the controls.

Ruby watched through her view-screens as her sister's golden mech began to stand up, towering at more than forty feet, it's metal plating thicker than Crescent Rose.

Crescent Rose followed Ember Celica at Ruby's behest, the slightly smaller mech standing up and it's arms coming off their locking points on the torso.

The two girls piloted their mechs out of their spots in the workshop, the heavy clunking of metal and the hiss of servos permeating the air as the mechs warmed up.

A second communication window popped up on both sister's view-screens.

"Have fun, you two. Just remember to be careful!" Taiyang said, as his daughters waved goodbye.

"Seeya later, dad!" Both girls said, before terminating the communication and urging their mechs into a jog, the thumping of metal impacting the ground a familiar feeling to Taiyang.

He watched them run off into the distance, before turning around to the corgi that sat behind him, tail wagging.

"What am I going to do now, huh Zwei?"

Zwei just barked in response, tongue hanging out of his mouth.

* * *

Blake opened her eyes, looking around at her view-screens.

"Are you ready, Blake?"

Blake looked at the masked face in the communication window in the corner. "Yes."

"Go."

Blake slipped on her mask, and urged Gambol Shroud to leap, the mech responding quickly, the black plating almost invisible against the night time sky.

Blake could feel the whistle of the wind against the hull of Gambol Shroud, before she was almost jolted out of her seat by the impact. She heard the impact of Adam behind her, Wilt and Blush landing just to the side of her.

A booming voice came over speakers, and spotlights lit the two mechs up.

"Alert! Alert! Two unidentified mobile hunter platforms have landed on the foredeck! All units, engage!"

Blake frowned underneath her mask, quickly drawing her weapon. Adam had already drawn his blade, glowing red, crackling plasma.

Doors slid open on the deck, and the Atlesian cargo craft that Blake and Adam were assaulting launched it's defenses.

She watched as a cluster of dark metal mechs rose on a platform. Atlesian Knight-130s, automated mechs designed as security.

Blake ignited her sword, purple plasma crackling, and she leaped forwards, Gambol Shroud responding in a single instant, her blade cutting the first of the twelve AK130s in half, it's plating unable to withstand the sheer heat that the blade gave off.

Blake wasn't finished, not by a long shot, as Gambol Shroud spun, the flat metal blade that Blake wielded in her other hand thudding into the central processing unit of the second AK130, located in the head.

Adam joined Blake in the fray, sword glowing as he struck. He sheathed the blade, the plasma vanishing as he placed it in the sheath. Wilt and Blush's fist twisted, and Adam pointed the end of the sheath at another mech, pulling the trigger.

The blast of the shotgun smashed through the mech, and it faltered and fell, plating bent inwards, and shattered.

The sword flickered in and out of the sheath, and three more mechs split, falling one after another.

Blake hadn't been idle, her sword having shifted forms, her pistol spitting out bullets. Each colossal round smacked into the targets she'd chosen, the AK-130s taking solid hits, shredding plating and collapsing on the deck.

She and Adam cleared the deck of hostiles, their weapons spitting out rounds and displacing sprays of plasma.

"Move to the cargo bay, prep the crates for drop."

Blake followed Adam's orders, and dropped down through the hatch from where the AK-130s had ascended, the elevator having retracted.

Gambol Shroud's feet thunked as they made contact with the metal floor, and Blake quickly stepped forward as Adam dropped in behind her, the bigger frame of Wilt and Blush landing just behind her.

The two stalked forwards past the unpiloted cargo mechs, and the two began checking and preparing the shipping containers, all of which were marked with either the Schnee Dust Company logo, or the smaller less distinct logo of the Atlesian Military.

Blake placed another package against the side of a crate, the package automatically sealing itself against the metal hull of the container.

"Blake, prep the crates. I'll set the charges," Adam said, maneuvering Wilt and Blush behind a stack of crates.

"What about the civilians?" Blake asked.

"What about them- Contact!"

Blake looked up as Gambol Shroud leapt backwards, and she noticed as something stirred in the darkness beyond the cargo bay.

One mechanical leg pressed against the cargo bay floor, followed by a second.

It was the third and fourth legs that grasped the top of the entryway that had Blake on high alert, as what had seemed like a lesser threat was suddenly proven to not be anything of the sort.

The mech crawled out of the darkness, its legs latched to the ceiling, massive turret swivelling around to face where Blake and Adam stood.

Blake opened fire, her pistol blasting away at the thick metal plating of the spider-mech, but it almost seemed negligible as the plating tanked the rounds.

"Blake, hold it off for a while!" Adam called out, and backed out of sight of the spider-mech.

Blake dashed close as it dropped off the ceiling, and she slashed at it with her plasma blade.

The plating was so dense, so thick and so strong that her sword bit in only half an inch, but she was already moving, Gambol Shroud darting around and slashing at the mech once again.

Blake held this up for almost a minute, dashing and slashing at the mech as it spiralled its turret, unable to get a bead on the rapidly moving Gambol Shroud.

"Get clear!"

Blake quickly followed Adam's order, darting back and using the shipping containers as cover as Adam stepped clear, the blade of Wilt and Blush ready to draw.

The mech rounded on Adam, and fired, a direct beam of energy striking the rapidly drawn blade.

A moment passed as Wilt and Blush glowed, plasma spraying outwards as the beam was absorbed inside, flipping off the laws of physics as it did.

The cargo bay was silent before Adam sliced his blade through the air, a massive trail following the blade as he launched a wave of plasma at the mech, cutting it in half.

"Blake, drop the crates," Adam ordered, as he pulled out a much larger case from the inside of Wilt and Blush's cargo container.

Blake did so, hitting the manual release for the cargo bay door, which slid open on its now slack rails.

She began pushing the crates to the edge of the doorway, where the sky met the metal flooring. Once she had them prepared, she began slowly but surely shoving them out, the variously coloured steel boxes plummeting into the air below.

Adam walked back over to Blake, and stood at the edge, preparing himself to drop.

"Ready?" Adam asked.

Blake didn't respond, simply standing there.

A moment passed, and Adam noticed Blake cut the communication.

He then noticed as a metal hand shoved Wilt and Blush out of the aircraft.

Blake quickly turned and picked up the explosive charge Adam had set down, and set to work deactivating it.

It took more than a minute, but once she was done she sprinted out of the cargo hold, leaping as far as the servos on Gambol Shroud could take her, her black mech plunging into the night sky.

There was no way Adam would find her. At least, she hoped as much.

* * *

Honestly, if Weiss had to be honest, she was tired.

She'd never admit it, of course, or even show it publicly, but there were two people in the world that knew how tired she was at the moment.

Klein, her butler, and Winter, her older sister. One knew because she had vented to them, the other because they had done the exact same thing she had.

Even as she brought Myrtenaster's blade up to block the strike of the automated mech her father had pitted her against, she felt tired.

The cut across her face from the shrapnel that had penetrated the plating of her cockpit was enough to make her consider surrendering, but she was so close, so damn close to being out of Atlas that she was willing to withstand the pain, withstand the thought that her face would never be the same.

A small price to pay, she thought.

Her blade struck the enemy mech once again, finally crippling the robot.

It crumpled to one knee, dropping its massive blade to the floor as Weiss panted, exhausted.

She'd won, but the cost was steeper than anything she'd had to deal with.

"I suppose you have given me no choice but to concede defeat, daughter."

Her father's voice wasn't what she needed to hear right now, but it was all she was given.

"You may study at Beacon Academy, Weiss," Her father said.

Weiss perked up in the cockpit, even as she wiped blood off her face.

Her father walked away at that point, not even concerned about the wellbeing of his daughter.

Weiss was tired. But she was also far happier than she had ever been. Not that she'd ever admit it.

* * *

 **Hey all, AFatFlyingWhale here. Something new here, a little side project I put a little effort into. I had a craving for some mech stuff, and I noticed there weren't really any mech fanfics out there for RWBY, which is a surprise, considering how well it works. Consider this a way to hype myself up for Gen:Lock, so there.**

 **I just wish would stop dropping out.**

 **And, as always, see you next chapter  
~AFatFlyingWhale**


	2. II: Always Warehouses

Crescent Rose bent over, the servos hissing as they pneumatically actuated, the mech bending down to pick up the heavy crate, containing the majority of the high-caliber ammo that the store had in stock, ordered especially for the mech pilot-in-training.

A sudden loud noise, the clunking of heavy metal in staccato, rang out from behind her, and Ruby dropped the crate in surprise. She hadn't expected any other mechs, especially at this time. An unknown communication popped up on her feed, beamed directly from the other mech.

Curious, Ruby accepted the communique, and the video feed of a man in a black suit, red tie and red glasses appeared on her internal display.

"Can I help you?" Ruby asked, a little confused.

"Step out of the mech, and you won't be harmed," The man responded, confusing Ruby even more.

"Are you mugging me?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at the man.

"Yes!" The man exclaimed, and as Ruby turned to get a view of the hostile mech, she noted the rather large plasma blade sparking a glowing red, the blade itself emitting in almost a machete shape.

"Ohh…" Ruby responded in understanding.

The next moment happened in a flash, the man not even having time to react as his entire mech was sent flying backwards, crashing through a series of empty containers.

Ruby fired up her full combat suite, quickly and efficiently running through the diagnostics and tests that she needed to when activating it. As her radar booted up, and the first ping was leased, she noted two approaching targets.

She knew they were hostile, how could they not be?, and quickly shot forwards, her mech responding to her input like a third arm, or an eleventh finger. Ruby wasn't sure if she had ten fingers, as she wasn't one hundred percent that thumbs counted as fingers, but she decided to table that self-internalized discussion for a situation that didn't require her full attention.

The first of the two mechs rounded the corner and was quickly dispatched as Ruby kicked it in the head, its control mechanisms irreparably damaged as the auto-eject function kicked in, the control pod ejecting and quickly inflating the shock absorption pods, rolling to a rest next to a crate of 20mm dust rounds.

The second mech acted suitably surprised, and Ruby quickly drew her weapon, the small rifle unfolding and firing within a few moments, the 152mm round tearing the second mech's arm into its component parts, albeit warped and shattered.

The gunfire had drawn the attention of the rest of the mechs, but Ruby wasn't going to engage them inside, especially considering the place lacked something Ruby favoured, and that was open space to maneuver. It was also full of highly explosive materials, which contributed a not-so insignificant amount to the decision.

Regardless, her choice was made for her as the third mech rounded the corner, and Ruby instinctively drop-kicked it, the mech and her sailing through the sheet metal wall of the From Dust Till Dawn storage warehouse.

She stood up as the ejection of the third mech occurred, and her weapon came up. She had the space, and she was feeling a little showy.

The haft unfolded, the extensions sprung loose, the rifle shifted.

The blade lit up, an eerily glowing silver, dripping loose plasma.

The scythe lit up the otherwise dark metal of the red and black themed mech, and Ruby turned, balancing the scythe on the shoulders of Crescent Rose, both arms holding to steady it.

The uniform mechs that flowed out of the hole in the warehouse were broken up by the radiant-by-comparison mech that stepped out, the white and red mech, complete with orange highlights for the head, leaning against a long metal rod, curved at the handle. It was oddly reminiscent of a cane, but for a mech to need a cane for anything but a fashion statement was rather unique.

A wide-beam communication opened up, the voice booming through the mechs speakers.

"Well, get her!"

At this, the black mechs all rushed forwards, weapons glinting their red hue, plasma flecks flying through the air as they closed in on Crescent Rose.

It was apparent that these criminals had no honour, as they attempted to not only sway the typical stereotype of attacking one by one and opted for the gang tactic of swarming the opponent.

Unfortunately, Ruby was already on the move, the haft of her scythe lowered as she began to spin, the blade flicking up and cutting through hasty blocks and mistimed guards, severing servos, puncturing pistons and annihilating actuators as her blade nicked crucial components of the amateurish mechs, hastily assembled by inferior mechanics.

"You were worth every Lien, truly you were," The voice said, as the significantly more impressive mech stepped forwards.

"Well, Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening, and as much as I'd like to stick around, I'm afraid this," he said, lifting his cane, the end popping open, "is where we part ways."

The hidden trigger mechanism in the cane was depressed, and whilst the machine wasn't suicidal in any means, the dust-based explosive that fired out the end certainly spelt death for anyone unfortunate enough to not block in time.

Ruby, however, was no novice, and she quickly spun her scythe, the solid construction of the weapon taking the majority of the explosion, driving the girl and her mech back a step. The shrapnel and smoke it threw up, however, distorted her screens, and for a second she lost track of the mech.

She quickly turned around, scanning her surroundings, and lo and behold, down the road was a sprinting mech, hurrying away from her. Ruby quickly pursued, the advantage of Crescent Rose being made of lighter materials, and the fact that it was smaller, proving to be apt at catching up.

Ruby rounded the corner she had seen the mech go round, and noticed the mech standing in the center of an empty clearing, the mech lanes as empty as the vehicle lanes.

She didn't hear the muttered "persistent" that the pilot of the hostile mech offered, but she did hear the telltale whine of a Bullhead's engines, as it plummeted from the sky, one of its mech bay doors opening quickly.

"End of the line, Red!" The mech shouted as it clambered aboard the transport, tossing a large cube at Ruby.

She was aware enough to make the connection between the glowing red veins on the cube and the incoming projectile the mech had sent after it, but she lacked the time to react, and she watched her impending defeat, and possibly doom, approach.

A burst of purple energy stopped it, however, and when the dust and smoke cleared, there stood a mech unlike any she had seen before, and most definitely not hostile.

Black and white, with a long purple and black cape, the mech stood mostly unarmoured, what looked to be a riding crop in its hand. It almost had a glowing purple aura about it, and Ruby stared in amazement.

The giant purple glowing sigil that floated in the air between the Bullhead and the new mech was certainly something to stare at, too.

It burst, firing out a series of glowing purple needles, trailing energy as they struck the Bullhead, the engines whining harder in an attempt to stabilize and not just tip and plunge into the ground below.

She watched as the hostile mech stumbled about, almost losing its footing as it set about deactivating.

A moment passed, and Ruby's danger sense tingled, as a new mech stepped to the edge of the bullhead.

The light made it almost impossible to see, and the details were remarkably difficult to make out at the distance it was at already, but even as it reached the edge of the Bullhead, the air transport was already peeling away, about to make a getaway.

The new friendly mech wasn't about to let that slide, however, and quickly waved the riding crop, another purple glyph appearing in the air. A burst of energy occurred, and a storm of various swirls of dark clouds and crackles of ambient lightning halting the progress of the Bullhead as a sudden hailfire of, well, hail, struck the vehicle.

Ruby watched as the plating of the bullhead took a beating, and even the cockpit didn't survive unscathed, as a large shard of ice penetrated the supposedly bulletproof glass.

The new hostile mech quickly set about returning fire, a bolt of fire exiting the side of the Bullhead and heading straight towards the friendly mech.

It was deflected, of course, another purple glyph, but the flecks of fiery plasma that littered the ground from the aftermath of the attack quickly coalesced, a wide symbol almost like an eye appearing beneath the mech.

A beat passed before the symbol erupted, the mech deftly cartwheeling backwards as the ground exploded, shards of road and other rubble being sent into the air like large chunks of earthen shrapnel.

The friendly mech made use of this, quickly latching that glowing purple aura to them and flinging them like a massive spear at the Bullhead with a wave of the riding crop, but another bolt of flame split it apart, again and a third time, but it was to no avail as the reformed into less of a spear and more of a tendril.

The Bullhead quickly swerved, the tendril skimming off the top and splitting into three smaller, thinner tendrils, which proceeded to wrap around the Bullhead with the intent of ensnaring it.

A massive red circular glyph appeared around the hostile mech, and the friendly mech's telekinetic capture attempt was defeated as the glyph spread outwards in a burst of fiery energy, shredding the connection the friendly mech was maintaining and liquefying the rubble.

Ruby, not wanting to just sit back and become a spectator, quickly folded her scythe back down to it's sniper rifle form, Crescent Rose aiming and pulling the trigger at the behest of its pilot.

The massive caliber of the bullets didn't seem to faze the hostile mech, however, as it simply held up its hand, each bullet becoming molten slag as it neared impact.

The retaliatory attack was similar to the eye-glyph on the ground, except this time it was five smaller ones, staggered around where both Crescent Rose and the other mech were standing.

A moment passed as the friendly mech looked at Ruby, and quickly waved the riding crop, before cartwheeling forwards.

Ruby felt the telekinetic pull on her mech, and stumbled forwards, losing her balance and collapsing to her knees.

By the time both mechs had righted themselves, the Bullhead was already flying off, bay doors sliding closed.

Ruby watched it fly off, before opening a communication to the other mech.

"You're a Huntress…" Ruby began as the communication was accepted. The stern blond woman with glasses stared at her through the screen.

"Can I have your autograph?"

* * *

Ruby didn't get her autograph.

She did, however, get whisked away to the nearest police station, for a statement, and to speak privately with the Huntress that had helped her.

The interrogation room was a little chilly, the air conditioning turned just a little too high to make the interrogee uncomfortable, despite Ruby being innocent of any crimes. That she was aware of, at least.

The Huntress from earlier paced about in front of Ruby, her blonde hair and glasses giving off a very teacher-ish vibe, and a strict one at that. The riding crop certainly didn't do anything to dissuade that notion, but the tattered black and purple cape did do something to throw off the image.

"I hope you realise that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly young lady! You put yourself and others in great danger." The blonde woman said, pacing back and forth around the room.

"They started it!" Ruby replied with some heat.

"If it were up to me you'd be sent home with a pat on the back," The huntress began, causing Ruby to perk up with a small smile, "And a slap on the wrist!"

The riding crop came down fast, its end smacking against the table with an audible thwap, causing Ruby to eep backwards, recoiling in her seat.

"But, there is someone here who would like to meet you."

A new figure entered the room from the dark door on the far side. His grey hair hung messily on his head, and his glasses sat precariously balanced on his nose. It was accompanied by an outfit in shades of dark green, a mug of coffee, and, most importantly, a plate of cookies.

"Ruby Rose," The figure stated matter-of-factly. He leaned in closer to the red-hooded girl that sat in the chair. "You… have silver eyes."

It wasn't the first time she'd heard it, of course, but it was the first time anyone had decided that it was the go-to for greetings.

"U-um," Ruby muttered eloquently.

"So, where did you learn to do this?" The man asked, gesturing to the tablet the female Huntress held in her hands, playing CCTV footage of the fight she'd had earlier.

"S-Signal Academy?" Ruby ventured nervously.

"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous Mobile Hunter Platforms ever designed?" The man queried.

"Well, one teacher in particular," Ribu replied.

"I see." The man placed the plate of cookies in front of Ruby.

The poor, poor cookies lasted only moments before they were completely and utterly devoured.

"It's just that I've only seen one pilot of that skill before, a dusty old crow," The man pondered.

"Mmm-thas ma uncluw," Ruby replied, as eloquent as ever.

The man raised an eyebrow at her, and she swallowed the final bit of cookie.

"Sorry. That's my uncle Qrow. He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing, and now I'm all like H-wah, Wah-cha, H-yah!" Ruby answered, accompanying her last few sounds with vague notions of karate.

"So I've noticed," The man replied goodnaturedly. The mug of coffee, still steaming, was placed on the table as he leaned against it.

"And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train combat pilots?" He asked.

"Well…" Ruby began, thinking. "I want to be a Huntress."

"You want to slay monsters?" The man asked, as he took a seat, hands clasped together.

"Yeah. I only have two more years of training left at Signal, and then I'm going to apply at Beacon. See, my sister's starting there this year, and she's trying to become a Huntress, and I'm trying to become a Huntress, 'cause I wanna help people, and our parents always taught us to help others, so I may as well make a career out of it, I mean, the police are alright, but Huntsmen and Huntresses are just so much more romantic and exciting and cool and just hyaah you know!"

The blonde woman just stared at Ruby with a concerned look on her face.

"Do you know who I am?" The man asked.

"You're Professor Ozpin. You're the Headmaster at Beacon," Ruby answered.

"Hmm. Hello."

"Nice to meet you."

"You want to come to my school?" The man asked.

"More than anything," Ruby replied.

A glance at the woman beside him, who rolled her eyes, Professor Ozpin looked back at Ruby with a small smile.

"Well okay."

* * *

 **Well, been a long time since a chapter for this, but hey, I still like where it's headed. I have a minor plan, although it will follow along the plot with minor canon divergence for a little while at least, but certain events will be changed to fit mechs, much like the Dust Till Dawn fight early in the chapter. I'm still pretty hectic with University, and the next chapter I release won't be for a little while, partly because I should've been writing another damn essay, but it will be coming, you can count on it. Consider this a birthday present from me, despite the fact that it's my birthday not yours, but eh.**

 **Also... just wait until you see the Grimm. I'm looking forward to them.**

 **And, as always, see you next chapter  
~AFatFlyingWhale**


	3. III: Motion Sickness

**A shorter chapter this time, but we get closer and closer to the first significant event of canonical Volume 1. Things are different, more so now than they were the previous chapters, so that's good.**

* * *

He could feel it, swirling around inside him.

It was an unpleasant feeling, like snakes coiling around.

He did the only thing he could.

"Hrrk!" Jaune grunted, leaning over the bin inside the airship, emptying the contents of his admittedly large breakfast into the trash can, the feeling staying despite his attempts to rid himself of it.

He could hear people ridiculing him, he could see, out of the corner of his eye, people staring at him in disgust.

Jaune didn't care. He didn't come to Beacon to be popular, he didn't come to Beacon to be famous, or to be a socialite.

Jaune had come to Beacon to become a Hunter. Jaune had come to Beacon to become a Hero.

First, however, he'd have to survive the trip there. He could feel a second bout coming along, and he blanched.

A few minutes passed, and Jaune felt as the airship touched down, the ground no longer swaying under his feet.

He staggered forwards, step by step, one foot in front of the other, for all of about four seconds, before stumbling to the nearest bin and ejected his internals.

"Hey, are you alright?" One voice asked, over the top of another person's upturned nose and noise of disgust.

Jaune lifted his head from the edge of the bin to watch as two completely different people stood near him.

One was obviously disgusted by his actions, her white, off-center ponytail swaying as she walked away.

The other wore a concerned expression on her face, her dark red hair slowly blowing in the wind of the airship dock.

"Huh?" Jaune asked, wiping his mouth.

"Are you okay?" The girl asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just motion sickness, a more common issue than you would think." Jaune tried to smile.

"I'm Ruby Rose, what's your name?" The girl, Ruby, asked.

"Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue. Ladies love it!" Jaune said confidently, although it would've had more effect were he not to be still leaning over a trash can.

"Do they?" Ruby asked with a quirked eyebrow, obviously not believing Jaune.

"Well, they will. My mother says… you know what, nevermind." Jaune cut that sentence off before he could finish, the thought of actually saying that only just occuring to him.

"Hey look, you can see our mechs from here!" Ruby said, dashing over to a nearby balustrade overlooking the massive gaping maw that was the mech hangar, set into the side of the Beacon Cliffs.

Jaune quickly joined her, only to be mildly embarrassed as he watched his mech get offloaded, the metal plating a little worn and the paint a little faded. It was nothing like the rest of the mechs, his older model functional but less impressive.

"Ooh, there's mine!" Ruby cried out, jumping up and down excitedly with her finger outstretched into a point. "She's a Mistralian Light Frame L-23, her name's Crescent Rose!"

Jaune mentally staggered under the veritable stream of information Ruby blurted out in excitement. He looked to where the crimsonette was pointing, a smaller, sleek mech sitting in its deactivated position a few mechs down from his, its black and red colour scheme glistening in the afternoon sun. "Cool?"

"Yeah, she is really cool! What about you?" Ruby asked, scanning up and down the offloaded mechs.

"The white one, with gold plating. That's mine," Jaune said, a bit glumly.

"Wow! Is that a genuine Valean Heavy Frame H-2?" Ruby asked, her eyes lighting up.

Jaune felt a little of his resolve come back. "Yeah, it was my great-grandfather's. It's a hand-me-down, really."

"Sounds more like an heirloom to me. A genuine Great War Model H-2, that's incredible. I didn't think there were any left that still ran," Ruby said, almost leaning over the railing in her attempts to get a closer look.

"Does it have a name? I can't really read it from here," Ruby said, turning back to look at her blond compatriot.

"Crocea Mors. I've been told it means 'The Yellow Death', which is pretty neat," Jaune replied. He was starting to feel less embarrassed by his mech.

"Attention all new students of Beacon Academy. Please report to the assembly hall. I repeat, please report to the assembly hall."

The voice was female, strict and distinct, and Ruby recognized it immediately as it blared out the loudspeakers that covered the plaza in which the majority of new students were milling around.

"C'mon Jaune, let's go!" Ruby said, dashing off, leaving a mildly bewildered Jaune to follow her trail, panting as he attempted to keep up.

"Slow… down… please…"

* * *

"So this is this year's crop, hmm? A little… lackluster, en masse, but I assume Ozpin has some favourites."

The voice came from the grey-haired portly man sitting on a bench atop the stage in the assembly hall, as new students filtered their way through the large doors.

His companion turned to look at him, peering through his glasses. "Yes indeed, but I believe they will be suitable candidates for Hunters, do you not?"

"Hmmph. Back in our day we would've had records laden down with confirmed kills, and yet we are teaching students who look like they've never fought a Grimm before, let alone a horde." The grey-haired man said in reply.

"Peter, we cannot expect the new students to be of such a high caliber in this time of peace. Our time was different, you remember," The man with glasses replied.

"Very true Bartholomew, the students must not be held to the high standards that we were. Our job is to teach them to be the best they can, I should not have held myself to them. Like a candle to a bonfire, they are to us," Peter said, frowning his bushy eyebrows.

"Professor Port, Professor Oobleck, if you are ready?" The voice was the stern blonde vice-headmistress, Glynda Goodwitch.

"Of course, of course," Professor Port said as he stood from the bench.

"Our sincerest apologies, Professor Goodwitch, we meant not to hold up the assembly," Professor Oobleck said as he joined his colleague in standing, the two moving into position to flank either side of the stage, where Professor Goodwitch returned to the center.

A tap on the microphone in the center of the stage drew the attention of the crowded students, who promptly quietened down as Ozpin tapped a second time, before preparing to speak.

"I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

The stunned silence that followed was something that none of the professors ever got sick of, as they scanned over the students, looking for those who understood the underlying message.

Professor Goodwitch approached, taking the microphone into her hands. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

The teachers watched as the crowd of students dispersed, the vaguely confused amateur Hunters-In-Training slowly filtering back out the way they had come in.

"Well Headmaster, you have succeeded once again in effectively alienating the student body from any sense of typical schooling. Shall we begin preparations for the initiation?" Goodwitch asked, her face deadpan.

"Yes, I believe now is the time for our preparations. If you would assist Glynda; Peter, Bartholomew?" Ozpin replied, an almost indiscernible smirk on his face.

Both men quickly snapped to attention, following the blonde professor as she left through the rear entrance, leaving the headmaster alone in the now quiet auditorium.

The silence was interrupted by the quiet approach of a orangey-pink haired woman, short in stature and seemingly distracted.

"Ah, Professor Peach, glad you could make it," Ozpin said, another nearly invisible smirk on his face.

"I missed it again, didn't I?" The woman asked, pushing her small glasses up her nose, from where they promptly slid back down again.

"Indeed, Professor Peach, indeed."

* * *

The ballroom was clustered with students placing down sleeping bags, each finding little groups and cliques to settle into.

Ruby and Yang were relaxing in one such spot, a little cramped with the amount of students applying for the various roles Beacon Academy offered.

There were clusters of Engineering students, all pouring over their study notes in preparation for their initiation, of which they had been informed was an exam.

There were groups of Intelligence Communication students, pairing off and running mock operations to make sure they were all familiar with the terminology and strategy in preparation for their joint initiation operation they would be performing in simulation.

There was a congregation of Applied Science students in the far corner, books on laps as they relentlessly compared the information to their scrolls, checking that their initiation projects were outputting the correct data.

The most relaxed were the Hunter students, most of which were simply content to attempt to get early nights, some checking their scrolls to make sure their mechs were prepped for the next day.

Ruby was one of these students, her scroll flickering as it remotely measured the diagnostic data that Crescent Rose was outputting, the crimsonette cross-referencing it with her optimal performance data she'd come up with less than a week ago.

"Ruby, Crescent Rose will be fine, you can stop now," Yang said, her diagnostic taking all of about three seconds, considering she'd just given it a glance and promptly tossed her scroll to the side.

"I just want to make sure everything will be fine, that's all," Ruby replied, as she ran through her seventh consecutive check in as many minutes.

"Ruby. Chill out," Yang admonished, and Ruby pouted.

"Yeah, okay…" Ruby said, complying and pocketing her scroll. "I'm just worried about the initiation, that's all."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Ruby, you're probably one of the best Hunter pilots in Beacon at the moment. You're here two years early, I don't think sub-optimal output is going to be a problem."

"I know, it's just that tomorrow is the day I get to let my sweetheart do the talking. No more awkward small talk getting-to-know-you type stuff, you know?" Ruby said, sinking into her pillow.

"You've already made one friend today, so that's good," Yang mentioned, only to pale as the man she was speaking of crossed her peripheral vision, the baby-blue onesie standing out rather obtusely in comparison to the mostly shirtless men that roamed the ballroom. "Eugh."

"Yeah, but I only made friends with Jaune 'cause he's as awkward as I am," Ruby mentioned, completely missing seeing Jaune as he paced past.

"I can tell," Yang deadpanned.

"I don't even know what we do about teams. I'm so confused." Ruby frowned, burying her face into the pillow.

"Well, we aren't going to find out until tomorrow, so we may as well turn in. Night, sis," Yang said, rolling over and promptly falling asleep.

The lights began dimming as Yang did so, the blonde's timing as impeccable as always when it came to sleep.

Ruby closed her eyes and snuggled deeper into her sleeping bag, but sleep didn't come as easy for her as it did her sister.

Thoughts plagued the crimsonette's mind, and none of them were any kind of beneficial for rest.

* * *

 **Well, that was fun to write. At some point, once all the main characters have been introduced, I'll do a kind of infodump concerning Mech statistics, so for anyone curious they can check the AN for some extra information that may or may not clear up any miscommunications I may have accidentally made when writing. I'm not the biggest fan of the more political Mech anime, which is odd for someone who decided to write about it (despite how broad that genre can get), but I try my hardest to create at least something somewhat interesting to read.**

 **Overlord Urasai, I hope this is more what you wanted.**

 **The Wizardrous Magicman, you just wait. It's not quite what you're thinking, but I hope it still lives up to its expectation.**

 **Other Reviewers, thank you so much for your reviews. If you have any questions, suggestions or things to say please feel free.**

 **And, as always, see you next chapter  
~AFatFlyingWhale**


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